81R9743 SMH-F
By: Rose H.B. No. 1818
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to rainwater harvesting and other water conservation
initiatives.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 447.004, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (c-1) and adding Subsections (c-3) and (g) to
read as follows:
(c-1) The procedural standards adopted under this section
must require that:
(1) on-site reclaimed system technologies, including
rainwater harvesting, condensate collection, or cooling tower blow
down, or a combination of those system technologies, for nonpotable
indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into the design
and construction of:
(A) [(1)] each new state building with a roof
measuring at least 10,000 square feet; and
(B) [(2)] any other new state building for which
the incorporation of such systems is feasible;
(2) rainwater harvesting system technology for
nonpotable indoor use and landscape watering be incorporated into
the design and construction of each new state building with a roof
measuring at least 10,000 square feet that is located in an area of
this state in which the average annual rainfall is at least 28
inches; and
(3) at least 25 percent of the roof area of a building
described by Subdivision (2) be used for rainwater collection.
(c-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (c-2), the procedural
standards required by Subsections (c-1)(2) and (3) apply to a
building described by Subsection (c-1)(2) unless the state agency
or institution of higher education constructing the building also
provides the state energy conservation office evidence that the
amount of rainwater that will be harvested from one or more existing
buildings at the same location is equivalent to the amount of
rainwater that could have been harvested from the new building had
rainwater harvesting system technology been incorporated into its
design and construction.
(g) The Texas Facilities Commission shall ensure that a
state agency or institution of higher education constructing a
building that is subject to the procedural standards required by
Subsection (c-1) complies with the standards.
SECTION 2. Chapter 430, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 430.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 430.004. RAINWATER HARVESTING. (a) Each municipality
and county is encouraged to promote rainwater harvesting at
residential, commercial, and industrial facilities through
incentives such as the provision at a discount of rain barrels or
rebates for water storage tanks.
(b) Each municipality or county that has adopted impervious
cover or density restrictions shall consider the use in a
development of harvested rainwater as an on-site water supply
source in determining whether to grant the development a credit
against or exemption from the restrictions.
(c) The Texas Water Development Board shall hold a training
seminar on rainwater harvesting for the members of the permitting
staffs of municipalities and counties at least quarterly. Each
member of the permitting staff of each county and municipality
located wholly or partly in an area designated by the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality as a priority groundwater
management area under Section 35.008, Water Code, and each member
of the permitting staff of each county and municipality with a
population of more than 100,000 must attend the seminar at least
once. Members of the permitting staffs of counties and
municipalities not located wholly or partly in an area designated
by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as a priority
groundwater management area under Section 35.008, Water Code, and
members of the permitting staffs of counties and municipalities
with a population of 100,000 or less are encouraged to attend the
seminar.
(d) A municipality or county may not deny a building permit
solely because the facility will implement rainwater harvesting.
SECTION 3. Section 202.007(d), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) This section does not:
(1) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating the requirements, including size, type, shielding, and
materials, for or the location of a composting device[, rain
barrel, rain harvesting device, or any other appurtenance] if the
restriction does not prohibit the economic installation of the
device [or appurtenance] on the property owner's property where
there is reasonably sufficient area to install the device [or
appurtenance];
(2) require a property owners' association to permit a
device [or appurtenance] described by Subdivision (1) to be
installed in or on property:
(A) owned by the property owners' association;
(B) owned in common by the members of the
property owners' association; or
(C) in an area other than the fenced yard or patio
of a property owner;
(3) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation of efficient irrigation systems,
including establishing visibility limitations for aesthetic
purposes;
(4) prohibit a property owners' association from
regulating the installation or use of gravel, rocks, or cacti; or
(5) restrict a property owners' association from
regulating yard and landscape maintenance if the restrictions or
requirements do not restrict or prohibit turf or landscaping design
that promotes water conservation.
SECTION 4. Section 11.32, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.32. CERTAIN WATER CONSERVATION INITIATIVES. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Brush control" means the selective control,
removal, or reduction from watershed rangelands of plants that use
a large amount of water, including mesquite, salt cedar, and ashe
juniper.
(2) "Desalination" means the removal of salts from
nonpotable or brackish surface water or groundwater so that the
water is usable freshwater or high-quality drinking water.
(3) "Rainwater harvesting" means the capture and
storage of rainwater for subsequent use.
(b) A person is entitled to an exemption [The governing body
of a taxing unit by official action of the governing body adopted in
the manner required by law for official actions may exempt] from
taxation of the portion of the appraised [part or all of the
assessed] value of the person's property attributable to the
implementation on the property of rainwater harvesting or other
[which approved] water conservation initiatives, desalination
projects, or brush control initiatives [have been implemented. For
purposes of this section, approved water conservation,
desalination, and brush control initiatives shall be designated
pursuant to an ordinance or other law adopted by the governing
unit].
(c) The comptroller by rule shall adopt standards for
determining whether property qualifies for an exemption under this
section. The comptroller is entitled to request and receive
assistance from another state agency in developing the standards.
The standards may require that:
(1) a rainwater harvesting or desalination project
have a specified minimum capacity; or
(2) brush control be conducted on an area of a
specified minimum size.
(d) In determining whether property qualifies for an
exemption under this section, the chief appraiser and the appraisal
review board shall apply the standards adopted under Subsection
(c).
SECTION 5. Section 1.003, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 1.003. PUBLIC POLICY. It is the public policy of the
state to provide for the conservation and development of the
state's natural resources, including:
(1) the control, storage, preservation, and
distribution of the state's storm and floodwaters and the waters of
its rivers and streams for irrigation, power, and other useful
purposes;
(2) the reclamation and irrigation of the state's
arid, semiarid, and other land needing irrigation;
(3) the reclamation and drainage of the state's
overflowed land and other land needing drainage;
(4) the conservation and development of its forest,
water, and hydroelectric power;
(5) the navigation of the state's inland and coastal
waters;
(6) the maintenance of a proper ecological environment
of the bays and estuaries of Texas and the health of related living
marine resources; [and]
(7) the voluntary stewardship of public and private
lands to benefit waters of the state; and
(8) the promotion of rainwater harvesting at public
and private facilities in this state, including residential,
commercial, and industrial buildings.
SECTION 6. If the 81st Legislature makes an appropriation
to the Texas Water Development Board to provide matching grants to
political subdivisions of this state for rainwater harvesting
demonstration projects, the board shall, not later than December 1,
2010, provide a report to the lieutenant governor and the speaker of
the house of representatives regarding the projects for which the
board has provided grants, including:
(1) a description of each project; and
(2) the amount of the grant provided for each project.
SECTION 7. Section 11.32, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed for a tax year beginning on
or after January 1, 2010.
SECTION 8. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
(b) Section 4 of this Act takes effect January 1, 2010, but
only if the constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature
by general law to exempt from ad valorem taxes the portion of the
assessed value of property attributable to the implementation on
the property of a water conservation initiative, desalination
project, or brush control initiative is approved by the voters. If
that amendment is not approved by the voters, Section 4 of this Act
has no effect.